AEA's 2006 Gathering Was An Active And Thought-Provoking
Affair
With many annual
tradeshows, 'it' is all about what's NEW in terms of products and
companies... but with the just-concluded AEA 2006 Convention, 'it'
was more about the legislative agenda ahead of an industry that is
awash in change and saddled with a bureaucracy that has little hope
of keeping up with the meteoric progress being made on the
technical front.
AEA is more than a trade show... it is foremost, a training
event... with nearly 100 hours of dedicated training sessions
covering everything from specific avionics systems to marketing and
regulatory issues. Events like the G1000 training session (shown
below) were so well attended that they not only took up one of the
larger classrooms available, but extra chairs had to be brought in
to handle an overflow crowd.
Training has become a major mission for AEA... undertaking a
number of programs to make sure that their members; be they shops,
technicians, suppliers or manufacturers, stay on the legal side of
the legislative and certification process.
Particularly laudable efforts have been made in regards to the
repair station network that keeps much of this nation (and the
world) flying. Recently, AEA conducted the first in a series of
seminars designed to help Part 145 repair stations of all types
develop and manage their required training programs. The
one-day seminar was designed to take the complexity and confusion
out of the regulatory guidance material and demonstrate
cost-effective and efficient measures to comply with the new
rule.
In addition to leaving with a better understanding of the scope
of the new rule and the best methods to comply, workshop attendees
received a free copy of AEA’s newly released Repair Station
Training Program Development CD. The CD, which includes access to
AEA’s exclusive Repair Station Training Program Development
Tool, dissects the inspector’s guidance material, breaks down
the Advisory Circular and writes the shop's training program for
them.
Mind you, an association tradeshow is also a good time to do a
little bragging...and AEA has the right to do so on several fronts.
It was the 510th issue of their magazine, though, that was singled
out for special honors in front of the hundreds of folks who
jammed the opening session of AEA 2006. The April 2006 issue of
Avionics News, the official publication of the Aircraft Electronics
Association, marked the 510th issue of the magazine. It also marked
the beginning of a celebration of the magazine’s history at
the 49th annual AEA International Convention & Trade Show, as
well as the planning for the 50th annual AEA Convention in Reno,
Nev., in 2007.
In the same manner in which AEA has grown and evolved, so has
the Avionics News magazine. What once served AEA membership as a
“newsletter” to assist members with their businesses
has developed into the largest magazine in the general aviation
industry dedicated to avionics. Avionics News keeps the industry
connected to the latest trends, training, technology and
regulations, as well as connected with one another.
But... why was AEA celebrating the 510th issue of Avionics News
instead of the 500th issue? It’s simple: AEA wanted to
celebrate the magazine’s history with as many of its members
and readers as possible, and what better time to celebrate than at
the annual AEA convention in April, which coincided with the 510th
issue of Avionics News. AEA’s celebration honoring the
milestone was therefore dubbed “AN510.”
The annual event is also a gathering point for the industry to
come together and speak jointly of the issues that face them and
the potential solutions that the association is pursuing. This is
where the action was in terms of the year 2006... where AEA
President and VP of Gov't and Industry Affairs, Ric Peri, made it
clear that AEA was actively involved in all things legislative and
regulatory -- but not before AEA Prez Derks set the tone for
the day by declaring that the FAA's inclination toward
adopting user fee funding mechanisms was not necessary since
the FAA's current funding was actually increasing... NOT
decreasing.
Ric (shown above) led most of the pivotal industry sessions and
updates on a number of regulatory programs... both here in North
America as well as overseas. Peri noted that aspects of the Part
145 Repair Station program were destined to "be turned on its ear,"
and briefed a rapt audience of his concerns and efforts on such
matters. Peri encouraged AEA members to speak up if they were to
find that they were not getting FAA services due to excuses
regarding budgetary constraints... a common response from some FAA
staffers when they were not able or willing to assist with
certification matters. Peri noted his displeasure at the fact that
the FAA continued to limit repair station certificate applications
due to "resource limitations." This has resulted in serious delays
in the certification of new operators and an escalation in the
expense the industry incurs in getting such programs operating.
The FAA's Wes Ryan spoke for awhile, at the invitation of AEA
and started saying quite a bit... much of it welcomed by the
audience... especially in terms of his apparent agreement with the
need to seek additional ways to share delegation authority... with
the FAA taking on more of an oversight role while compliance
becomes (more and more) an industry responsibility... so long as
safety was not, in any way, compromised. It was also suggested
that changes were forthcoming in "Major Alteration" programs to
reduce subjectivity.
One of the more enjoyable aspects of such affairs is the
opportunity that they present in terms of recognizing the
powers-that-be that populate the industry. A series of awards were
presented to do just that. The most prominent of the awards given
this year, the 2006 AEA Lifetime Achievement Award, was bestowed
upon John Winter, a well-known figure in the general aviation
industry. He began his aviation career in the late 1950s with a
degree in electrical engineering, then received a master’s
degree in electrical engineering from Yale University.
In the early 1960s, Winter (above center, with AEA Chairman
Michael OLeary-Left, and Paula Derks-Right) helped develop one of
the first gyros for aviation during his tenure as chief engineer at
Aviation Instrument Manufacturing Corp., known as AIM. He purchased
Mid-Continent Instruments Co. in 1980, and relocated the company
from Houston to Wichita, Kan. Gradually growing the company from
providing only instrument repair into both instrument manufacturing
and repair, the company enjoyed significant growth throughout the
1980s and ’90s. Today, the company has 170 employees and a
branch office in Van Nuys, Calif. He served on the AEA board of
director as a regional director, advancing to the office of
treasurer from 1994 to 2000. Winter was named AEA’s Member of
the Year in 1995. His company, Mid-Continent Instruments, was named
AEA Associate Member of the Year in 2001.
AEA also recognized the FAA's Nick Sabatini (below), FAA
associate administrator for aviation safety, with the AEA Industry
Partnership Award. The AEA Industry Partnership Award was given in
recognition of Sabatini’s efforts in implementing the FAA
Customer Service Initiative. The CSI has been well received by AEA
membership, and Sabatini has played a vital role in the creation
and success of this program. The FAA’s Customer Service
Initiative addresses AVR customer service expectations — what
FAA’s customers can expect from the FAA when conducting
business with any AVR office, and what FAA asks of them in return.
The goal is to promote a positive environment between the
regulators and industry.
Sabatini has been the FAA associate administrator
for aviation safety since 2001. He oversees a work force of more
than 6,100 employees in the FAA’s Washington headquarters,
nine regional offices and more than 125 field offices throughout
the world. He is responsible for the certification, production
approval, and continued airworthiness of aircraft, and the
certification of pilots, mechanics and others in safety-related
positions.
By using the CSI procedures, industry is encouraged to use a
special review checklist in handling disagreements with its
regional regulators without fear of retribution. Since its
inception in 2003 by Sabatini, positive feedback has been received
from AEA members in working with the initiative.
AEA's 2006 member and Associate member of the Year awards were
given to Ray McDonald (below) and Sandel Avionics, respectively.
Ray's work at Castleberry instruments, BF Goodrich and Pacific
Southwest Instruments provided him a breadth of experience that few
persons could equal and his work made him a well-known figure all
across the avionics industry. Today, he is the VP of Customer
service for Pacific Southwest Instruments.
Sandel was awarded Associate member of the year in respect for
its trail-blazing work in developing one of the first successful
EHSIs, the SN3308... an instrument that went onto become one of the
most popular of its kind and soon generated the largest installed
base of EHSIs in the industry. Sandel has since upgraded that
system with the recently introduced SN3500 EHSI.
In preparing for its 50th anniversary in 2007, AEA has also
announced the dates and locations of the annual AEA International
Convention & Trade Show through 2011. AEA's 50th anniversary
celebration will take place at one of the association's most
popular convention sites - Reno, Nev.
From 2008 to 2011, AEA members and exhibitors will have the
opportunity to return to other familiar and popular convention
sites when AEA converges on Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Orlando,
Fla.
The following is the schedule of future AEA annual
conventions:
- 2007 (50th anniversary): Reno, Nev., from March 28-31, at the
Reno Hilton.
- 2008: Washington, D.C., from April 23-26, at the Gaylord
National.
- 2009: Dallas, Texas, from April 1-4, at the Gaylord Texan.
- 2010: Orlando, Fla., from April 7-10, at the Gaylord Palm.
- 2011: Reno, Nev., from March 30-April 2, at the Reno
Hilton.
ANN looks forward to covering each of these events... stay tuned
for more info.